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Tag: Bald eagle
Unusual sighting
Here is a picture of the rarely seen headless bald eagle.
…Okay… I’m joking. They’re not so rare. The ones with heads have an enviable ability to rotate it around and preen their backs and wings. But they look pretty interesting while they’re preening, don’t they?
Wingspan
Bald eagles are hard to miss, even when they’re soaring at a high altitude. Their size is a giveaway; their broad wings can span from 5-1/2 to 8 feet. This is one of my typical “I wish I had a really big lens” shots. You get to see it because it shows a dramatic size comparison between the eagle and a seagull.
More on the eagle theme
This eagle decided to hang out in a freshly hayed field. I’m not exaggerating. I stopped, took pictures. Talked to a passerby. Drove home. He took off and flew away when my husband drove by again about 10 minutes later. I’m guessing he had a big lunch in that field.
Linking to:
Eagle sighting
You can often find eagles nearby when fields are being hayed. This one checked out the action as grass was cut.
Bald eagle youngster
I’ve seen more eagles in flight lately. One morning last week we saw five near the Dungeness bluffs and I saw another later in the day. This is an immature I saw near the Olympic Game Park near a group of trees that locals know are a good site for eagle watching. Each year an immature eagle slowly becomes more recognizable as it changes from an overall brown to the distinctive dark brown with white head and tail. This one is probably about three to four years old. The darker eye stripe is a third year trait, but the white head and tail and darker underparts may move it toward four.
I was interested to read that Ben Franklin, a respected naturalist, argued against naming the bald eagle as the U.S. national bird. He considered its scavenging of carrion and stealing fish from smaller ospreys “dishonorable.” An adult eagle will eat a lot of spawned-out salmon (carrion) but can also catch its own live prey.
Eagle on the bluff
We had a nice little dusting of snow yesterday. It fell steadily during my walk to the Dungeness bluffs, where I saw this eagle taking in the sights. No zoom lens. Falling snow. But I find eagles exciting enough that I’ll take the shots I can get.
